HELP needed with baby bird!!!!

[nvnvgirl]

Originally Posted by drawlins27

If I bring it in, how do I keep it warm? I'm really hoping the sun will come back out. The bricks are still pretty warm but the poor thing seems to have gotten pretty weak

Hi there~ I didn't read thru all the posts, but I have raised tons of baby birds and hand fed them...the best thing to do is to put it into a box, get a small heating pad and fold a small (not too thick) towel on top of it....then set the box (what works GREAT are those clear acrylic boxes that they have at the pet stores for either small animals or crickets I think...they have a top that has little slits and a little handle)....put either some paper towels or a little towel in the bottom of it, and set on top of the heating pad that's set to either low or medium.

If you have an eye dropper, you can use that to work into the corner of it's beak to open it and drip slowly a few drops of water in. If you have a food that's like a gruel (like pablum baby food), you can also feed it with that. The baby will (or should) be very happy to accept the food...make SURE you WARM it up first though...just mix it with warm water and test it on the back of your hand like you would for a baby!! No microwave, b/c the center may be much hotter and if you burn the crop, the bird will surely die. You want to make sure it's warm enough for the baby to digest and not get what's called "sour crop" (where the food curdles in it's crop, or the little pouch you'll see expand on it's neck area when it's fed), but not too warm where it will produce a burn in the crop! You should feed it enough so that the crop expands like a small bulb...it should be swollen but not too firm...sort of soft, but not baggy. You can PM me or email me at seananapa2@aol.com if you like. I would also put a light towel over the top of the container so it's quiet and not too scary for it. Good luck! Wish I were closer and I'd bring over an eyedropper...I have lots of brand new ones from when I was raising mine!

[nvnvgirl]

Sorry....too late to just add onto my original post to you. Im not sure if he's too young (he's for sure only a couple of days old at most), but I know you could soak monkey biscuits (most pet stores and feed stores sell them) in some apple juice and try feeding that too....he may be too young for that though.

Try to keep him warm consistently, and try to warm his food and water up before you feed him.
There's a powdered baby food you can buy at Petsmart I think...and I forget what it's called. I used one that I got at the feed store and it had to be frozen...forget what that was called too. But I'm pretty sure I noticed something at Petsmart awhile ago in the bird seed/food section.

I just remembered what I did about the heating situation...I had the clear plastic container and put one of those stick on temperature things you can get for aquariums....I kept it at I think, 78-82 deg...I'll try to check on that just to be sure though. That way, if it's getting too warm in there (b/c he won't be able to get away from it if you've got a heating pad on the bottom), you'll know to turn it down or up if it's too cool.

[nvnvgirl]

The baby bird food:


Kaytee exact Hand-Feeding Formula for Baby Birds - Food - PetSmart

[drawlins27]

Thanks so much for everyone's suggestions. I'm sad to say that he passed away a few minutes ago He was doing very well, eating, pooping, I thought he might get strong enough for me to put him back near the nest but he suddenly stopped breathing and moving. I know that the mother may have kicked him out of the nest for a reason but it's still sad that he didn't make it. I didn't think that he would being so young but I had to at least try.

Again, thanks everyone...

[Gizmo's Mom]

God bless you for trying.

[RoxyJosMom]

Checking in to see how your little bird is doing.

[pepe mint]

Originally Posted by RoxyJosMom

Checking in to see how your little bird is doing.

see post #19

[nvnvgirl]

Awww...sorry, at least you tried! It's true that if there's something wrong with them the mom will do that....at this time of year though, it's hard to tell. It's hard to keep one alive that's so young. Bless you for trying though